Dont worrytheres no world in which lo-fi horror classic The Blair Witch Project gets one of those overly smooth 4K upgrades. The 1999 film became a sensation because it looks like it really was filmed by a trio of young documentary makers who get lost in a haunted forest: shaky, grainy, weird lighting, not always in focus. Though by now we know the true story part of Blair Witch was a gimmick, the found-footage film is still finding new ways to surprise us. According to one of the films producers, Michael Monello, the film is finally25 years after it hit theatersgetting a home video release that reflects the version its creators (the film was written and directed by Eduardo Snchez and Daniel Myrick) always intended. The new version comes into being due to a technical snafu that was mistakenly not corrected decades agoand apparently makes a notable difference in the viewing experience. Heres Monellos social media post that breaks it down:The Blair Witch Project was filmed on Hi8 video and 16mm b&w film and edited on a Media 100XR, a non-linear editing system in wide use then, he wrote. Since theaters then did not have video projectors, we had to transfer our DigiBeta master to 35mm via a process called telecine, basically filming the video on a special screen in a controlled environment with a 35mm film camera.They had no choice at the time, he explained. But when The Blair Witch Project was shifting from theaters to home video, [distributors] Artisan made a huge mistake and instead worked not from the DigiBeta master, but the 35mm telecine transfer. This introduced serious motion errors, Monello explained. It gave the Hi8 footage film grain and muddied all the colors with a brown overcast, killing detail. The edits of that transfer became 3-frame dissolves, rather than hard cuts!The new version, he said, is the film the way it was intended to be seen, and its scarier to boot; the new transfers look, motion, and hard cuts create a far scarier psychological effect than all previous versions. The release comes with 90 minutes of deleted footage as well as a new documentary, he added. But theres a catch: this will be a Region B release onlythats Europe, not the United States. (Monello suggested fans contact Lionsgate on their social channels to request a U.S. release; American fans with the ability to play Region B discs can pick it up from Second Sites website, for what its worth. You can also go to that link to see the full list of special features.)And speaking of Lionsgate, the studio recently announced its working on a new version of Blair Witch. To that end,a fan on Bluesky asked Monello if the Blair Witch Project castHeather Donohue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williamsparticipated in this new release. Recently, the actors spoke out to say they werent included in the indie films massive profits, despite their integral part in its success. Monello replied: They were made offers to participate, but due to their ongoing issues with Lions Gate they chose not to be involved. Note that none of us earn any money from Blair Witch anything. Our work on this was unpaid, and we only did it to finally get it out into the world the way it was meant to be.The Blair Witch Project is already scary as hell. Its hard to imagine a version thats even scarierbut were certainly intrigued to get a look at it and see if thats the case. Will you be checking it out? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.